Strategic Area Two
KEEPING PEOPLE AND PETS TOGETHER
Issue | Guides | Organizations | Tools | Courses
Issue
Dog surrender isn’t always an owner’s choice.
Shelters house both strays and surrendered pets, a situation often marked by heartbreak on all sides. Free-roaming animals frequently lack identification, making reunification difficult, while owners reluctantly part with pets due to unavoidable issues like housing, financial hardship, personal health, or animal aggression. This influx strains shelter capacity, solidifying the importance of keeping people and pets together as a core strategy within the Dog Welfare Strategic Framework.
Animal shelters are facing an overwhelming crisis: too many dogs are entering the system, often due to circumstances beyond their owners’ control. This influx makes it impossible for animal welfare advocates to understand each dog’s unique story. Intake becomes a routine, mechanical process, shelters quickly fill, staff are overwhelmed, while dogs face an uncertain future. The immediate focus shifts to finding a new home, sometimes thousands of miles away.
Yet, every story matters. By one count, 1 in 2 dogs enter shelters as a “stray”, with families desperately searching for them. And for owner surrenders, research reveals that nearly three-quarters are due to personal hardships — issues like housing instability, owner health, or financial struggles — not problems with the animal itself. For those facing financial insecurity, pet surrender is a disproportionate burden, often occurring alongside the devastating loss of a job or home.
The heartbreaking truth is that many of these dogs don’t have to enter the shelter system at all. An alternative exists: by building solutions that keep people and their pets together. Pet food banks, community sheltering, and advocating for fairer housing options are just some examples. By prioritizing this approach, shelters can significantly reduce intake, lower the necessity of euthanasia, and improve staff morale.
However, a significant barrier remains: many struggling pet owners are reluctant to ask for help. They might feel others are more deserving, or, critically, they fear their beloved dog will be taken away. This highlights that the solution isn’t just about providing pet food banks or low-cost clinics. It demands a proactive shift: building awareness of available services, dispelling misconceptions about eligibility, and being transparent about owner responsibilities. This requires a fundamental mindset change, transforming shelters from mere holding facilities into vital community resource centers.
Ultimately, keeping a dog with its owner is almost always the best possible outcome. When offered a bridge through hardship, people are far more likely to overcome challenges with their pets by their side. Executed well, this approach truly serves the community, reducing countless heartaches for both animals and their human companions.
25 Critical Statistics on Owner Surrenders
This comprehensive analysis on owner surrenders provides insights for humane societies to prevent surrenders and keep more dogs in loving homes.
5 Graphics Explaining Shelter Struggles and Future Paths
Visualize the transformation from traditional dog shelter to community-based pet resource center, addressing overcrowding challenges while creating sustainable solutions.
Guides
Supporting Owners, Reducing Intake
The most compassionate outcome for a pet is often to remain with their loving family. By empowering owners and strengthening communities, by transforming animal shelters into pet resource centers, animal welfare efforts can significantly reduce the number of animals entering shelters and prevent heartbreaking surrenders.
Strengthening Reunification Efforts
Lost dogs are far less likely to be reunited with their families if they’re removed from their familiar community. Community sheltering initiatives empower neighbors and local networks to help lost dogs find their way home, dramatically increasing successful reunifications and avoiding unnecessary shelter intake.
Easing Financial Burdens
Financial hardship shouldn’t mean losing a pet. Financial aid for medical expenses, readily available pet food banks, and essential packs for daily exercise and training needs, directly transfer the cost of animal care from overwhelmed shelters to assisting families in need, keeping pets in their homes where they belong.
Addressing Housing Challenges
Housing insecurity is a leading cause of pet surrender. Advocacy for more pet-inclusive housing policies aims to prevent families from being forced to choose between a home and their beloved companion. Housing Deposit Support Systems are also being explored, providing a critical bridge to prevent surrenders due to housing crises.
Boosting Healthcare Access
Proactive veterinary care is vital for keeping pets healthy. Access to preventive treatments can be provided, including low-cost routine check-ups, microchipping, and sterilization services, which significantly reduce the frequency of medical euthanasia and prevent unwanted litters. Partnerships with veterinary institutes can make care even more accessible.
Fostering Community Connections
A strong community is the best support network for pet owners. Playgroups and organized group walks can be facilitated, fostering bonds between dog owners. These connections serve as a vital first line of support during challenging times, helping owners overcome difficulties before they lead to surrender.
Supporting Elderly Pet Owners
Senior community members often face unique challenges in pet ownership. Assistance can be offered for dog walking, ensuring their pets remain active and cared for. Systems can also be developed to safeguard the future of pets when elderly owners are no longer able to care for them, providing peace of mind and preventing surrenders.
Sharing Essential Knowledge
Accessible dog training can be offered from day 1, equipping owners with the skills to address common behavioral challenges before they escalate, thus reducing the likelihood of surrender. Education for children teaches responsible pet care and vital dog bite prevention, fostering a generation that understands and prioritizes animal well-being.
Organizations Focusing On Keeping People and Pets Together
HASS, a project of Austin Pets Alive!, promotes a community-centric sheltering model that prioritizes keeping pets and people together through equitable access to resources, education, and unified support systems.
The Alliance is a key U.S. organization developing practical, cost-effective solutions for homelessness, including safeguarding of pets of those experiencing homelessness through strategic partnerships.
Relevant Tools
A curated list of tools to equip dog welfare advocates for building programs that keep people and pets together.
This comprehensive guide offers strategies and practical tools for dog welfare organizations to implement community-centric models keeping people and pets together.
This document helps animal welfare organizations find the best ways to partner with social services, ensuring coordinated provision for both people and pets.
Petco Love Lost is a free U.S. database that helps reunite lost pets with their families quickly and efficiently, reducing the need for animals to enter shelters.
Useful Courses
A curated list of courses for dog welfare advocates aiming to build programs that keep people and pets together.
Developed by HASS and Maddie’s Fund, this curriculum covers the model’s most crucial concepts: lost pet reunification, pet support services, intake to placement, and creating a foster-facing medical clinic.
| < Managing Free-Roaming Dogs | Keeping People & Pets Together > |